"Poor Grendel's had an accident," I whisper. "So may you all." pg.174 of "Grendel".
Grendel
By: John Gardner
Presented By: Andrew Treadway
Main Characters:
Grendel- the main character. Big, strong, hairy, smart, and sadistic. They never really specify what he truely is but he seems to be somewhat related to humans.
Dragon- very smart and helps Grendel to start his little wars with Hrothgar. Very evil and sinister. He seems to know a lot of complex things that we know today like molecules or elements.
Hrothgar- king of the Danes. He is in charge of the village that is below Grendel's cave. He was once a very ferocious fighter, but has weakened with age. He unites many tribes that live around his territory.
Beowulf- unhumanly strong. You see him at the very end of the book. He is big and strong. Very insane. He seems to be cold, dead and mecanical, from Grendel's first impression.
My Thoughts on the Book:
I liked the book a lot. Sometimes it got to confusing like when the Dragon started going on about time. Other than that I would recommend this book because it goes into a deeper, more new age sort of depth of "Beowulf" but from Grendel's point of view.
Why It is on the List:
I believe it is on the list because of the complexity of his thoguhts and words. He tends to say a lot of complex things that are really hard to understand. Also, it shows Grendel's point of view and why he committed murder wnd how it came about. It is a very good piece of literature and well written for someone who wrote it long after "Beowulf" was written.
Short Summary:
The story is told from Grendel's view point. It details his life from when he was young to his death. Throughout the whole book Grendel's intelligence seems to be progressing or growing, but his mental state also seems to be decending or becoming more unstable. He seems to be smarter and somewhat more civilized than the Danes, but lacks their sanity. He shows this by attacking a goat that was climbing his mountain or when he talks to himself. He doesn't want to attack the Danes (a tribe in Denmark and Netherlands) at first because he is curious about them, but after his visit with the Dragon he decides to go against his previous decision. After awhile the Geats ( another tribe) come to Hrothgar's dying kingdom to help with their monster problem. Beowulf is among them. Grendel decides to attack them at night when Beowulf disables him. While Beowulf tells Grendel to sing songs about walls, Grendel's own sanity seems to be failing him also. Beowulf happens to rip his arm off at the shoulder and Grendel runs off into the forest. He then supposedly dies at the very same cliff in chapter one that he was seen shouting his defiance to.
Grendel
By: John Gardner
Presented By: Andrew Treadway
Main Characters:
Grendel- the main character. Big, strong, hairy, smart, and sadistic. They never really specify what he truely is but he seems to be somewhat related to humans.
Dragon- very smart and helps Grendel to start his little wars with Hrothgar. Very evil and sinister. He seems to know a lot of complex things that we know today like molecules or elements.
Hrothgar- king of the Danes. He is in charge of the village that is below Grendel's cave. He was once a very ferocious fighter, but has weakened with age. He unites many tribes that live around his territory.
Beowulf- unhumanly strong. You see him at the very end of the book. He is big and strong. Very insane. He seems to be cold, dead and mecanical, from Grendel's first impression.
My Thoughts on the Book:
I liked the book a lot. Sometimes it got to confusing like when the Dragon started going on about time. Other than that I would recommend this book because it goes into a deeper, more new age sort of depth of "Beowulf" but from Grendel's point of view.
Why It is on the List:
I believe it is on the list because of the complexity of his thoguhts and words. He tends to say a lot of complex things that are really hard to understand. Also, it shows Grendel's point of view and why he committed murder wnd how it came about. It is a very good piece of literature and well written for someone who wrote it long after "Beowulf" was written.
Short Summary:
The story is told from Grendel's view point. It details his life from when he was young to his death. Throughout the whole book Grendel's intelligence seems to be progressing or growing, but his mental state also seems to be decending or becoming more unstable. He seems to be smarter and somewhat more civilized than the Danes, but lacks their sanity. He shows this by attacking a goat that was climbing his mountain or when he talks to himself. He doesn't want to attack the Danes (a tribe in Denmark and Netherlands) at first because he is curious about them, but after his visit with the Dragon he decides to go against his previous decision. After awhile the Geats ( another tribe) come to Hrothgar's dying kingdom to help with their monster problem. Beowulf is among them. Grendel decides to attack them at night when Beowulf disables him. While Beowulf tells Grendel to sing songs about walls, Grendel's own sanity seems to be failing him also. Beowulf happens to rip his arm off at the shoulder and Grendel runs off into the forest. He then supposedly dies at the very same cliff in chapter one that he was seen shouting his defiance to.
Cites:
http://www.google.com/
http://www.crawfordsworld.com/jaimie/engIIIap/13thWarrior/images/grendel.jpg
http://www.jnanam.net/beowulf_arhttp://web.ukonline.co.uk/conker/weird-beasts/grendel.jpg
http://web.ukonline.co.uk/conker/weird-beasts/grendel.jpg
http://www.frankwu.com/grendel2.jpg